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A Panamanian woman allegedly tried to smuggle three points of cocaine into Spain in her breast implants. Ain’t nothin’ like it, her shiny machine Got the feel for the wheel, keep the movin’ parts clean Hot shoe, burnin’ down the avenue Got an on-ramp comin’ through my bedroom

I remember when 200 economists wrote an open letter saying that the stimulus wouldn’t work. But we had a CONSENSUS so our grand and glorious leader Barack Obama (hallowed be his name) rightfully ignored them.

See when it’s their team, those 180 economists (a negligible percentage) are the voice of sanity. But when it’s another team, say calling shenanigans on Climategate, then those signatories are cranks and whackos.

The Catholic League has battled it out with Silverman’s group in the past, even posting opposing signs on each end of the Lincoln Tunnel in 2010. But Catholic League spokesman Bill Donohue said Silverman went too far this year.

“This year it’s different,” he said. “This is vile. When you depict Jesus on the cross with a crown of thorns, this is exploitative. We as Christians never harass, intimidate or insult atheists. But they can’t seem to say, ‘We simply disagree with you.’ They have to insult us.”

That would be the problem. The atheists never seem to insult Muhammad now do they? If Christians would start burning shit down and decapitating people, they would get the same treatment. If they are not willing to do that and want to be peaceful, good for them. But don’t bitch and moan when they are taken advantage of by bullies. That is the whole point of being a martyr.

The asshole atheists are tiresome indeed. John seems to want to believe that they are representative of atheism in general. Which is not at all obviously the case. My guess would be that, just as with theists, most atheists don’t really stand out that much or feel a need to constantly talk about it or obnoxiously push what they believe (or fail to believe) on everyone else.

Maybe you used to hear them, because after Barry Soetoro declared his personal guarantee that the Prophet Mohammed will not be insulted ever again, I don’t think any of us have the thrill-seeking meter high enough to try that again.

While atheists do occasionally criticize Muhammad, most of their scorn is pointed straight at baby Jesus. Maybe that is because this is a mostly Christian country, hence Christianity is the biggest target of opportunity.

By the way, I am an atheist but I would never act like the kind of asshole that some (not many) atheists seem to be.

Better than the intelligence free environment you live in. Lets see, South Park rolled on even showing Muhammad in a cartoon. Yet, they do an entire Broadway show on Mormonism.

Face it. Atheists are cowards and pussies. That is what makes Christian complaints about them so pathetic. Really? A bunch of losers who spend their time suing to take Santa Clause out of the park is your biggest problem? These are the people who are oppressing you?

South Park didn’t roll on the Mohammed cartoon. Comedy Central rolled on the Mohammed cartoon. The actual creators of South Park were more than willing to mock Mohammed, so that example actually refutes your point.

‘While Parker and Stone insisted that they stood behind their work, Comedy Central caved to the threats by censoring the 201st episode to the point that it was virtually nonsensical. Every mention of Muhammad’s name was bleeped, and his image was covered by a big black “Censored” box. The episode was utterly incomprehensible unless you already knew what was going on. Many people initially thought the censorship was part of the episode, but according to a statement from Stone and Parker, “It wasn’t some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle’s customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn’t mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too.”‘

Boy, that sure does sound like Comedy Central censored the episode against the creator’s wishes. As for them not making another joke about Mohammed, if Comedy Central won’t let them, then they can’t. If you want to offer contrary evidence, then cool. Otherwise, stop making up unsupported bullshit.

Lol, I like how John thinks I’m a coward and a pussy because I don’t cling to archaic fairy tales despite a total lack of empirical evidence, just because they answer some scary existential questions. Also, saying that atheists are “A bunch of losers who spend their time suing to take Santa Clause out of the park” makes about as much sense as saying “Christians are a bunch of people who like to drown their kids in bathtubs” cause that one christian lady did that once. Almost all of my friends are atheist, and a majority of my co-workers, and none of them are petty enough to care about santa in the park.

Jesus dies, goes to Heaven, and searches through the mist. He asks [bunch of people, one at a time] “Where’s my father?” But [same bunch] says he doesn’t know. Then an old man comes out of the mist. The man is very old, with white hair. “Stop!” Jesus calls, “Who are you?” “Please help me, I am an old man in search of my son.” Jesus is very curious. Could this be…? “Tell me of your son, old man.” “Oh, you would know him if you saw him. Holes in his hand where the nails used to be, he was nailed to a cross, you know…” “Father!” screams Jesus. “Pinocchio!” yells the old man.

Well, I see you’ve taken the time to meet all of us and have drawn a well-considered conclusion.

Seriously, John – religion, and Christianity in particular, is shoved in our faces every day and most of us just recognize that, if we thought all Xians were “sad and pathetic” we’d not have any friends, couldn’t abide by our coworkers, our parents, our children, or our neighbors, and would be posting our own diatribes in response to you. So, most of us, like most Xians, just figure it’s something to disagree about. There’s plenty of that to go around.

But what a fine example of zealous generalization and partisan politics you’ve offered us.

I think atheists are sad and pathetic and Christians who whine about them nearly as so.

We agree… close enough. I think people who whine about other people’s religions (or lack thereof) are sad. And I agree that many of my fellow atheists are among the worst. Time and again their behavior has made me examine my atheism. I simply don’t find the capacity for faith within me. And wouldn’t faking it would be the worst response possible?

I’m an atheist. Is it strange that even this kind of prosthelytizing bothers me? Why care that someone else is wrong about something that has nothing to do with the real world? Why spend money to push the inconsequential on those who don’t want to hear it? An awful lot of atheists look more like anti-theists.

I can’t believe no one else has ever thought about this before. It’s not like their employer treats them well. And, from the Democrats perspective, the military needs to stop voting Republican so often.

“You know, these so-called right-to-work laws, they don’t have to do with economics,” said President Obama on Monday. “They have everything to do with politics. What they’re really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money.”

Look, we all know that capitalists have an infinite number of dollars and the only reason they don’t buy everyone a new pony is because they’re so greedy and are keeping all the ponies and dollars for themselves. It’s Krugmanomics 101.

Too bad Al didn’t learn to apologize when he perpetrated an injustice like the Tawana Brawley witch burning exercise…

“One of the earliest lessons I learned as a child was to speak up wherever and whenever I saw an injustice taking place. That basic principle is one that I carried with me throughout my life and one that I encourage others to follow as well.”

In the 19th century, autoimmune diseases ? like Crohn’s, multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes ? were virtually non-existent. Since people didn’t frequently bathe or wash their hands as often (nor was hand sanitizer around), the filth actually activated an immune response. Subsequently, those who live in third-world countries also have a lower rate of developing these sorts of diseases.

Scientists at Coronado Biosciences are using immunotherapy biologic agents to treat autoimmune diseases, including helminthic therapy, the use of parasitic worms to modulate the immune system. They’ve seen the success the therapy has had on patients suffering from Crohn’s disease, so they’ve started three trials in which they hope to prevent and treat type 1 diabetes using Trichuris suis ova (TSO), or the eggs of a pig whipworm.

Maybe. I’ve known 5 people with Crohn’s and 1 with ulcerative colitis. 4 of the Crohn’s and the uc case all used Accutane in the early 90s for acne treatment, and its a pretty well documented link. The other Crohn’s case has a father with the same thing. I’m not sure the cleanliness is a problem with that particular autoimmune disorder. Granted, my circle may not be representative of the larger population, but its pretty weird.

I dunno. Perhaps people didn’t know what the diseases were that were afflicting them. Access to medical treatement is much better than it was 100 years ago. People are living longer.

Also, I think I’d rather have a relatively low number of people afflicted by Crohn’s and autoimmune (a favorite on House MD) than people dropping dead left and right because of the flu and other diseases.

Poor gal, it’s a cute l’il clitty that rares up like an excitable kitten, but she’s not taking it very well —

“I was getting out of the car and my dress was so tight that I didn’t realize it until I saw all the photographers’ flashes. It was devastating. They saw everything. I might as well have lifted up my skirt for them.”

In addition to playing the first Romulan Commander, Mark Lenard also played the first Klingon with a ridged forehead. I also think he’s the only Trek actor to have played a Romulan, a Klingon, and a Vulcan.

Speaking of same actors playing different roles, after finishing the fifth season of Babylon 5, I started watching the movie collection, which begins with the pilot. Much to my surprise, who do I see as a member of the bridge crew? Mr. Morden!

I was trying to figure that out, but, fortunately, I watched later with the commentary on, and Straczynski explained that it was the same actor but not the same character.

It was like seeing Ricardo Montalban playing the navigator on an early episode of Star Trek.

I picked up my $85 brick this morning. Never tried the Westy 12, but quad is among my favorite styles, so I’m looking forward to cracking one this weekend and letting the rest age until a celebration worthy event to crack another.

A 16-year-old Belgian boy with cancer listened to his grandfather tell stories about United States troops liberating the country during World War II. On Tuesday, he got a chance to be one of those soldiers.

Antoine Brisbois was at Fort Knox for the first of a two-day visit that includes working alongside soldiers and training. Brisbois developed bone cancer at age 12. He was able to make the visit through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

As was he when I served him one of his insipid cardboard pizzas, substituting the bottom of the dish rack for the crust. He never noticed. To be fair, the Mozzareveeta he likes on his pizzas could overwhelm any tastebud.

PlayMobil’s Security Check toy promises to provide countless hours of imaginative play, as this blurb on amazon.com states: “The woman traveler stops by the security checkpoint. After placing her luggage on the screening machine, the airport employee checks her baggage. The traveler hands her spare change and watch to the security guard and proceeds through the metal detector. With no time to spare, she picks up her luggage and hurries to board her flight!”

Product dumping is when a foreign company sells a product at a price so low that it causes material harm to domestic industry. This sounds good, but the low price is almost always a result of lavish government subsidies in the foreign country.

You wouldn’t know it from reading Reason, but this is essentially what happened in the Solyndra case: the Chinese government subsidized solar panels so much that it bankrupted a number of American manufacturers.

Aren’t you the one who’s always freaking out about global warming? Shouldn’t you lauding the Chinese government for seizing the initiative and subsidizing solar panels so heavily?

This raises an interesting question. Liberals inexplicably despise businesses in China, but liberals are also unhinged about environmentalism. So when China hardcore subsidizes green energy, which is the first of these to break? Are they glad for solar panel subsidies, or horrified because it’s happening in China?

The whole tiff over that was a little silly, but the critics have an indirect point–you’re going to use a King quote, but not one from his I Have a Dream speech or his “Promised Land” speech in Memphis, which are his most well-known?

Around the Christian world, violent protests have erupted to shouts of “Behead those who insult the Savior!”. At least 40 people have died at the protests in front of the American Embassy in Italy. Meanwhile the Most Rev. Carlo Maria Vigan?, Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See to the United States has demanded that the billboard’s owner be prosecuted. H.H. Patriarch Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, declared the billboard “racist” and “Christophobic”.

I used to go to Big Lots at the mall as a kid and get all kinds of old timey country blues stuff. I lost all of them in a move though, sadface. Now if you try to buy the albums on ebay they want super cash money.

I’ve not managed to get into country much at all, though I’ve never delved into old country (which I hear is the best). I think the only country albums I have are a Kenny Rogers album and one of Jimmy Buffet’s early albums (which I think should be classified as country).

I haven’t heard of English Electric … Genesis is in my top 6 bands (somewhere in the 3-6 range), so I’ll give it a look!

I’m not a big Opeth fan, though I really like Blackwater Park. Ghost Reveries is pretty good. Everything else leaves me uninspired, including Heritage :(, though I’m trying to force through some listens of their earlier stuff…

Oops. I lied. I don’t have Heritage. After they burned me with Deliverance/Damnation/Watershed, I gave up on them. MAYH is the other album I don’t have by them. Maybe I’ll have to suck it up and take a look-see.

I got into the whole ‘extreme metal’ scene really late (about 5-6 years ago), which has contributed to my missing a lot of the earliest black/death bands. I think some of the bands (e.g., Ulver) might have been more impressive if you were around when the scene was just growing. I’ve been spoiled by the higher production values and whatnot of the 2nd/3rd generation bands.

I think the earliest I really go is back to about 1992ish (Katatonia, Samael, Tiamat) if those bands count.

Devin Townsend’s new album Epicloud is my favorite record of the year. Grey Skies and Electric Lights by Woods of Ypres is outstanding. I liked The Doctrine Decoded by Loch Vostok, although it’s on the silly side of things. A lot of people really loved the new Gojira record, but I didn’t get into it. The same goes for Baroness. If you want to pummel your ears into submission, get Vanitas by Anaal Nakrath.

From 2011: get Varjoina Kuljemme Kuolleiden Maassa by Moonsorrow, and give Ulg by Metsatoll a listen.

I’d guess Doom isn’t my top choice, though I was really into Katatonia at one point (and I just picked up October Tide’s newest one and it’s pretty good). A lot of Doom bands grind things down to such a slow pace that I find them a bit dull. I’ll take a look at Monolithe. I figure I’ll bookmark this page and check out all the stuff people have recommended!

Kurtzman notes the U.S. is now on track to meet the emission targets of the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty the U.S. did not sign, much to the chagrin of many greens.

“The reason why we’ve had these changes is not because of policy,” be it carbon taxes or the Kyoto treaty, Kurtzman says. “The treaty itself is not working from an environmental or policy perspective. What is working is the fact that low-priced natural gas is replacing coal; that has a dramatic effect, which is measurable” as electricity produced by natural gas emits 43% less carbon dioxide versus coal.

Looks like a large number of the commentariat may have to change their dating strategies.

Within the past three years, both Mike himself and three of his friends have unwittingly consumed date rape drugs that were slipped to them. This prompted Abramson to get in touch with Dr. John MacDonald, a professor of chemistry at Massachusetts’ Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Working with MacDonald, he proceeded to create a material that changes color when exposed to the three most common date rape drugs ? GHB, Ketamine, and Rohypnol.

Yes and no. Don’t question me! Go listen to “Solsbury Hill”, him leaving Genesis is what that song is about. Then listen to “Moribund the Burgermeister” because it’s awesome. That whole album is great.

I don’t know. Genesis was pretty great all the way up to Duke. Heck, Genesis is also a pretty good album (‘Home by the Sea’ being their last great track). Invisible Touch and We Can’t Dance start to sound a bit too much like Phil Collins solo and Calling All Stations is … not very good.

Well now that moms have been brought into it I’m going to tell my mom-Genesis story.

When I was little my dad’s youngest brother and his fianc?e lived with us, I don’t really know for how long, a year or two. The woman loved Phil Collins. I mean loved. She had a poster of him on the wall and shit and thought he was HAWT. That’s Britons for you. My mom was disgusted.

She also hated the woman because, allegedly, she would fawn over my infant brother and ignore or be rude to me. I have no memory of this but now, 25-odd years later, my mother still violently hates this woman for being mean to her little girl. (Which makes no sense because, as all Italian women do, my mom way prefers my brother to me.)

So whenever I hear/think of Genesis, Phil Collins, or Peter Gabriel, I have this whole web of retarded memories of a crazy ginger lady and my crazy mother, and I still like them because the 70s stuff is so good and the 80s stuff is so 80s.

Plus, aside from liking David Bowie, my mom has possibly the worst taste in music of all time, so it’s a good way to rebel. For everyone here who loves metal, just know that my mom forced me to listen to nothing but hair metal for my formative years. I stay away.

I have something of a soft spot for hair metal (Warrant, Faster Pussycat, Europe (which was my favorite band when I was in 6th grade), White Lion, etc.)

I’ve always thought of Phil Collins as good pop music. That is, it’s not something you really want to hear, but if someone is playing radio music at you, you’re happy when it’s Phil Collins and not somebody else … if that makes sense.

I think I’m in the minority, but Duke is my second favorite album by Genesis (after, of course, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, which is my all-time 2nd favorite album), so I’m partial to the ‘post-Gabriel’ period. What I don’t care too much for is the ‘Collins’ period, which I claim starts at Abacab.

I only have Steve Hackett’s first solo album. It doesn’t impress me terribly, though it’s not bad. I also hear it’s not terribly representative of his later work, so I may not be giving him a fair shake.

The workshop attendees started plugging small clippings ? using an index finger from the tip to where the palm behind curves into the thumb for measurement. They started around the equator of the ball, gradually filling in the whole Northern Hemisphere. Then they did the Southern Hemisphere. When the balls were finished, ribbons were tied to the twigs and a bow was attached to the wire hook, which could be used to hang the balls for a festive holiday look.

A group of 180 economists have signed a letter to Congress warning that tax increases to avoid the fiscal cliff will have a “significant, negative impact on the economy.”

But we have a revenue problem! At least, that is what the folks at CNN and CNBC have tried to tell me all these weeks! Never mind that one would have to believe that people do not change their behavior when facing wholesale thievery of their property.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens to the stuff the TSA confiscates at the airport (often with no good reason), it all ends up being sold on the cheap at state-run stores.

The difference between government selling stolen goods and any regular Joe selling stolen goods is 2-10 years in a penitentiary and a $10,000 fine.

Many scoff at Bing, but I’ve done comparisons. Just turn the safe search feature off of both sites and search with their images option on, ‘fire crotch’, and the first several rows of Bing returns are far superior.

My father is an unabashed, raised in the 60s, dyed in the wool liberal. He’s voted straight ticket Democrat in every election since he was able to vote. His current goal in life is to try and convince me, and everyone around him, how great a Secretary of the Treasury Paulie Krugnuts would be. I reminded him of the ridiculousness of Krugman’s view on disaster spending, and told him that if Krugman got government power, he’d probably have American cities bombed so we could benefit from the spending while things are rebuilt. Dad didn’t like the joke.

No, he’d destroy an American city and blame it on aliens. And then he’d kill a prominent objectivist investigator who discovered what he did and decided to tell the truth regardless of the impact to the government’s defense budget.

In the ongoing quest for world’s best burger, sometimes there’s a game changer – and this bacon cheeseburger perched on a Bloody Mary could be it. The Fully-Loaded, Cheeseburger-Bloody Mary was dreamed up by Dave Sobelman six weeks ago, owner of Sobelman’s Pub & Grill in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The drink/burger creation is garnished with shrimp, Polish sausage, cheese, pickled asparagus and sticks of celery – all for just nine dollars. And don’t forget the chaser of Sprecher beer.

We didn’t really do that with my daughter, but my niece learned some of that before she could speak. It’s not some PC thing–at least, I don’t think it is–it’s just a form of communication you can use before the baby can talk.

Before I knew she was quasi-famous, I was thinking to myself that the photo was an odd one for the topic. I mean, they friggin’ centered the shot on her chest. “Isn’t this about teaching kids to read?”

I’ll tell you one thing, lawyers don’t do math very well, as a rule. In my class, it was me (with a Finance degree) and the few engineers who could handle the basic math when we were dealing with damages calculations in Torts 1. It was quite pathetic.

My Torts 2 professor nearly had a conniption because no one would raise their hand to tell him who Banquo’s ghost was. I knew, but I wasn’t sticking my neck out.

FWIW, I spent 7 years as a funk & soul DJ in NYC, and I sort of know the daptone fellas (gabe roth, and… the other guy…gabe lived near me in w’burg for a while and went to NYU with my best buddy whos’ like the best funk drummer in Ny)…anyway, that is my kind of shit. I haven’t paid any attention to stuff they’ve done for years but damn that is very very good. I still have 3000 singles in my crib. 50% this type of stuff… with the others being hiphop, dancehall, reggae, jazz..etc. I’d never play that sort of thing out really, but I would other stuff they did… or, stuff like the New Mastersounds early singles – i met Keb Darge living in London in 2002-3 and he was the shit, totally twisted my wig. see the below single he released (or re-released…. cant remember, think it was a remake by british version of the kind of new-funk style that was going on) … which i still spin whenever i get a party gig =